The new gender neutral housing option for first year students was substantially changed in mid-August due to a reported misunderstanding within the administration.

Vice President and interim Dean of the College Peter Patton, who was responsible for the change, said that he did not understand that the new gender neutral option would allow for a biological male and female to be roommates.

Patton sits on the Student Life Committee (SLC), along with Dean of Student Services Mike Whaley and representatives of Residential Life (ResLife) and the Wesleyan Student Assembly (WSA). The SLC is responsible for changes to non-academic programs such as residence halls.

Patton said he was never aware of, nor did he approve of a gender neutral housing arrangement in which first year biological male and female students could be roommates.

“In my conversations with President Bennet last spring, I never thought we were going to end up with men and women together in double rooms,” Patton said. “I was quite explicit that we would not pair men and women in the same room, that the University would not support that. What we were trying to do was provide a level of privacy for people who are questioning their gender identity.”

The description for the new procedure for gender neutral assignments from the Undergraduate Residential Life Committee (URLC), a subcommittee of the SLC, says that “any student who indicates a desire for a gender neutral assignment will be placed in a single room or in a double room with another student making the same request.”

The misunderstanding surfaced after room assignments were sent out in mid-July to the Class of 2008. In the following weeks, Assistant Director of ResLife Rich DeCapua began receiving confused phone calls from some of the 80 students who had checked gender neutral in the online housing form.

The gender neutral option was listed under “special interests” along with the substance-free hall and the same-sex hall. But unlike last year’s genderblind hall, where students interested in gender neutral housing were placed on one floor in Nicolson 6, students of the Class of 2008 interested in gender neutral housing could live in any of the five freshman dormitories.

“Some people thought that gender neutral meant you would be on a floor with different gendered people or the entire building would have people with different genders,” DeCapua said. “Once we started receiving one or two people who didn’t understand it, we thought it would be prudent to send a blind e-mail to everyone who put gender neutral and say, ‘Listen, there’s been some confusion, this is what gender neutral housing means in our eyes.’”

Of the 80 students who selected gender neutral, more than half were assigned to singles. Others were assigned to doubles with a roommate of the same biological sex. About 20 of the 80 students were paired with someone of the opposite biological sex . In mid-August, all doubles with a biological male and female were switched to create same-sex doubles.

After this change four of the students who were paired with someone of their opposite biological sex said they did not want their assignments to be switched. One pair, Josh Pavlacky ’08 and Lilly Dagdigian ’08, requested to remain together as roommates and have protested the administration’s decision to separate them.

“On my housing form I specifically said I would rather not be placed with a gay guy because of my sexuality for the same reason that a straight guy and a straight girl might not want to room together,” Pavlacky, who identifies as homosexual, said.

“When you have possible physical attraction to someone, you have possible conflicts. And I didn’t want to have to deal with that. I wanted to room with someone I was comfortable with. I said this person is compatible for me, we met at WesFest. We work well together, we’re fine with each other’s sexual orientations.”

About two weeks before orientation, Pavlacky and Dagdigian were notified that they would be switched with the other two students who also wanted to remain with their roommate of the opposite biological sex.

“When we got our requests we were like, oh, cool, they understood us,” Pavlacky said. “And then, the horrible thing is that when they switched us with the other pair, [the biological male] is gay and [the biological female] is a lesbian. So I told Dean Patton that you’re forcing two gay guys and two girls who might be attracted to each other to live together against their will. My problem is that they’re switching the other people, I’m assuming straight, for the same principles why we don’t want to be switched – because of possible sexual attractions.”

Dean Patton has spoken with Pavlacky and with others who have inquired about or protested his decision.

“It falls back on social mores,” Patton said. “Wesleyan is a very progressive place, but I think there are still some boundaries that we’re not yet prepared to cross. When I was in college, men and women couldn’t live in the same dorm. I think gender neutral housing is very important and we will continue to push the envelope on this.”

For those who question why only first year students must live with someone of the same biological sex, Patton said that the University has a greater responsibility in their case because frosh are assigned roommates and housing situations.

“Ultimately, our goal is to create a safe and fun living environment students can concentrate on their academic work,” Patton said.

In mid-August, Whaley sent an e-mail to members of the Queer Subcommittee, the URLC and the SLC, who had worked on planning for the gender neutral housing option, informing them of the challenges of implementing the new program.

Zach Strassburger ’06, who identifies as transgender and has pioneered the movement for accommodation of students who want to live in a gender neutral environment, said he was disappointed by the change.

“As a trans-identified student I felt relieved when the forms with a gender neutral housing option went out to incoming first-years,” Strassburger said. “The administration had finally recognized that gender segregated housing is a problem. Having decided I exist, they then decided they don’t want me to.”

Whaley said that it is important to note that the gender neutral housing option has not been cancelled, but changed. He said that some students who were assigned to singles and same-sex doubles were benefiting by having the gender neutral option available.

“While it certainly is possible to dwell on the one part of this that we were unable to accomplish, I think it’s really important to look at the progress that’s been made within Residential Life and also on campus with respect to meeting the needs of trans-identified students,” Whaley said. “There’s work that has been completed and is underway in terms of restroom facilities around campus and there is work underway and will be completed at the Freeman addition around some more private locker room space. We obviously haven’t been able to accomplish what some students had been advocating for, but I think we have made substantial progress and it’s important to note that.”